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Do Louisiana Preliminary Notice Rules for Prime Contractors apply in an emergency natural disasters situation?

Louisiana

We are a primer contractor with contracts for two jobs due to Hurricane Laura in the state of Louisiana. We provide emergency services and in situations like these, we were not able to submit the required notices before beginning the job. We have been currently removed from both projects due to miscommunication of multiple entity owners (not our fault)-we do not know if we will be back on the job again. Have we lost our rights to file a mechanics lien if we are not paid for the work that has been completed? Thank you.

1 reply

Sep 2, 2020

Unfortunately, I don't think there is a particularly clear answer to your question right now. I'm not personally aware of any notice rules being suspended due to Hurricane Laura, and it doesn't look like the Office of the Governor has released any information supporting that. But, on the other hand, it's common for rules and regulations to be suspended in the wake of a disaster. Plus, it's literally impossible to file anything in many of the areas affected by Hurricane Laura - many of them are closed for an undetermined amount of time. The Louisiana Supreme Court issued this order which postpones the court filing deadlines until September 28th. However, filings like Notices of Contract or mechanics liens aren't filed in a court and aren't part of a judicial proceeding - they're filed in the mortgage records with the clerk of court, and the deadlines for these filings tend to be treated quite differently than deadlines for judicial proceedings. So, it's not immediately clear whether the deadlines for those filings have been officially pushed back. It would make sense if they were pushed back, though. Until it becomes clear whether any rules have been suspended, it's likely best to draw up all necessary paperwork, to collect needed information, and to take whatever steps possible to fulfill the notice requirements - and to document every step of that process. That way, if there's a dispute about notices or other requirements, you could show you did everything in your power to comply.

Lien rights for work already done

As for prior work that wasn't noticed, as required - it's always possible that lien rights could be lost when notice requirements aren't followed. But, as mentioned above, there's generally a lot of flexibility in the wake of a natural disaster. Meaning, it's also possible rights could remain intact even if all requirements aren't followed to a T. I wish the landscape were more clear right now, but there hasn't yet been much public discussion on how rules, deadlines, etc. will be treated.

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